Transmission system for automobiles.



PATENTBD AUG. 28, 1906.

J. MELOTTE. TRANSMISSION SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILES APPLIOATION FILED AUG. 1.1905.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

"I: Now": PETERS co., WASHINDTDN, n. c

PATENTED AUG. 28, 1906.

J. MB'LOTTE. TRANSMISSION SYSTEM FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLIUATIDN FILED AUG.1,1905.

2 SHEETS-EH33! 2.

IHE uoRnIs wsrtns co., wunmu'rou, a c.

UNITED JULES MELOTTE OF REMICOURT, BELGIUM.

TRANSMISSION SYSTEM FOslR AUTOMOBILES.

No. s29,413.

Application filed August 1,

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, J ULES MELoTTE, a subj ect of the King of Belgium, residing at Remicourt, Belgium, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Transmission Systems of Automobiles and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to. which it appertains to make and use the same.

When the motion of the pinions which arecarried by the shafts of the differential is transmitted through the medium of a chain, for example, to a toothed wheel fixed to a road-wheel of the vehicle, the axle of this wheel (which supports the chassis through the medium of springs) is constantly approaching or receding from the chassis as a conse quence of the jerks or shocks which. are imparted to it by the unevenness of the roadsurface over which the vehicle is traveling, and as the bearings of the driving-pinion are rigidly fixed to the said chassis the said pinion is necessarily compelled to move bodil with the chassis as the latter approaches or recedes from the ground, while the road-wheel axle of course always remains at the same distance from the ground, and thus relative displacements between the axis of the drivingpinion and the road-wheel are produced, and these displacements cannot take place without one of the two parts (either the pinion or the wheel) turning. As a consequence, if the wheel turns without the chassis advancing or receding it will slip upon the ground, and in order to turn the pinion, if the gearing is clutched to the motor, it is necessary to cause this latter to turn or to sli the clutch. Such slippings of the clutch and of the wheel in addition to considerably increasing the strain upon the motor cannot take place without resulting in great strain being also thrown upon the transmission mechanism.

The present invention has for its object to remedy these serious inconveniences so far as they concern the reduction of the speed of the motor and to prevent the displacements of the chassis with reference to the road.- wheel axle from influencing the speed of the motor.

The annexed drawings represent some variations of mechanism of the kind.

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a direct transmission by pinions. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section in an arrangement permitting Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 28, 1906. 1905. Serial No. 272,272.

of the practical realization of this system. Fig. 3 is a view in elevation, and Fig. 4 is a section through at ac, Fig. 2. Figs. 5 and 6 show, respectively, in horizontal section and in elevation an arrangement of the same kind.

In motor vehicles or carriages it is necessary to employ a driving-pinion which is smaller than the driven wheel, so as to cause the differential to run at a greater speed than the driven wheel and. also to reduce the strains which are set up in the parts which drive the differential in the parts of the difierential itself and in the spindles of the driving-pinions of the chain or of pinions which take the place of the chain-pinion.

In the mechanism such as is re iresented in Fig. 1 the pinion c, fixed on one oi the ends of the transverse shafts of the differential, indirectly drives the driven wheel I), iixcd on or solid with the wheel a of the vehicle. The pinion (2 first gears with a toothed wheel d, carried by the chassis and having a diameter equal to that of the wheel b, carried by the spring t.

When the car is driven by chain or by gearing or by a combination of these methods of driving, it is proposed to insert between the driving-pinion and the driven wheel an intermediate wheel (or its equivalent) mounted on the chassis and of the same diameter as the driven wheel. In this case the drivingwheel during its vertical displacements with I reference to the axle always runs up the chain of an extent equal to that which the driven wheel runs oil the said chain.

The radius-rod f, which is generally employed to maintain the road-wheel axle at a constant distance from the driving-pinion 0, must in this case be jointed to the center of the intermediate wheel, so as to provide for its angular motion around this point and to render e ual the lengths of top and bottom parts of t e chain afiected by the relative displacements of the chassis and road-wheel axle.

I Fig. 2 represents in horizontal section an arrangement which permits of the drivingwhecl (1 directly gearing with an intermediate pinion and which is itself driven by a pinion c on the differential counter-shaft. a is the road-wheel of the vehicle, on the hub of which is fixed the toothed wheel 1), receiving its motion from the counter-shaft pinion 0 through the medium of the internal and external toothed wheel (1 and the small intermediate pinion e.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the mechanism, and Fig. 4 is a partial section through X X. The several parts are inclosed in a gear-box j, which is mounted on the axle of the wheel a 5 by the bearings g g and is also secured to the chassis by the pin it. The gear-box f, with the parts which it carries, is free to move in several directions round the sphere j, which is supported on the pin 71 and is capable of sliding laterally thereon. The pinion 0 receives its motion from the differential by the axle r and the universal joint n n, and it turns freely upon. an axle k, which is connected through the medium of a jointed link 0 with an axle m, which is disposed concentrically with respect to the axis of rotation of the wheel d, whose bearing is upon a sleeve 8, fixed to the side of the gear-box This axle k is rigidly connected with the axle m and the arm 0, and the whole constitutes a jointed crank arrangement. The axle m passes into the bearing-sleeve s, which is supported by the gear-box f, and in consequence it is obliged to follow the angular movements of the said box around the sphere and to slide laterally with it upon the pin it; but it is prevented from turning itself by means of a pin p, carried by an upward extension of the crank-arm 0 and engaging between a pair of 0 flanges or ledges of an attachment Z, fixed to the chassis. (See Figs. 3 and 4.) In this resides the essential feature of the invention, which consists in mounting the axis of pinion 0 so that it is capable of following every 5 movement of the gear-box except its angular movement around the axis 71. It has been explained that the axle can thus approach or recede from the chassis without turning the driving-wheel or the driven wheel around 0 these axes, and as the axis of the pinion c is incapable of turning movement round it the pinion will not turn, and in consequence this movement will not influence the speed of the motor while running.

The inion receives its movement from the axle r )y the universal joint n n and transmits it to the internal toothed wheel at, which by its external teeth drives the intermediate wheel e, and the latter in its turn drives the wheel I), fixed on the hub of the road-wheel a of the vehicle. By the use of the cranked arm is 0 m p the pinion is compelled always to gear in a suitable manner with the wheel d. As a conse uence the axis m of the said crank 5 5 follows all t e angularand lateral movements of the gear-box f and gear elements d e b around the sphere and upon the pin 71, respectively. Consequently the axis k always remains parallel to all the other axes whatever may be the position of the gear-box. As

the pin 11 of the crank it o m p engages between the flanges of the fitting Z, it prevents the said crank from turning around the axis m and in consequence secures the axis k of the pinion.

Figs. 5 and 6 show, respectively, in. horizontal section and. in elevation an arrangement of the same kind, in which the driving-pinion 0 instead of being placed in the interior of an internal toothed wheel is placed on the outside of and is adapted to directly drive an external toothed wheel (I, which transmits the motion through the medium of the intermediate wheel 6 to the wheel I), fixed on the road-wheel axle of the vehicle. In this case the wheel d, Fig. 5, has an axis turning directly in the sleeve .9 of the gearbox, while the crank k m 0 1) has a bearing fitting onto the outside of the same sleeve .9.

Having fully described. my invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is 1. A transmission system for automobile, comprising a driving-pinion, a driving-wheel, a driven wheel and an intermediate pinion, the axles of said driving-pinion and. drivingwheel being mounted on the chassis and. adapted to move relative to the axles of the other pinion and wheel, the driving-wheel and the driven wheel being of substantially the same diameter.

2. The combination with an automobileaxle and a spring-mounted chassis, of a gearbox arranged to oscillate in an arc concentric with said axle and connected to said chassis by a mounting adapted to permit relative movement in several directions, a gear-wheel pivoted in said box, and a pinion arranged in said box to mesh with said wheel, the axis of said pinion being adapted to follow the relative movements of the gear-box except its annular movement around said mounting.

3. The combination with an automobileaxle and a spring-mounted chassis, of a gearbox arranged to oscillate on said axle and connected with said chassis by a mounting adapted to permit relative movement in several directions, a pivot-pin arranged in said box, a gear-wheel mounted to rotate around said pin, a pinion mounted to oscillate around said pin, and means adapted to prevent the oscillation of said pinion around said mounting.

4. The combination with an automobileaxle and a spring-mounted chassis, of a gearbox arranged to oscillate on said axle and connected with said chassis by a mounting adapted to permit relative movement in several directions, a driven wheel fast on said axle, a driving-wheel and an intermediate pinion mounted in said box, and a drivingpinion mounted on an arm adapted to swing in an arc concentric with the axis of said driving-wheel, said arm engaging with a projection on the chassis whereby it is prevented from swinging around said mounting.

5. The combination with an automobileaxle and a spring-mounted chassis, of a gearbox arranged to oscillate in an arc concentric with said axle and connected to said chassis by a mounting adapted to permit relative mounting, said pinion having a universal 1o movement in several directions, a driven l joint connection with the motor-shaft.

Wheel fast on said axle, a driving-Wheel piv- In testimony whereof I have signed my oted in said box concentric with said mountname to this specification in the presence of ing when said box is in normal position, an two subscribing witnesses.

intermediate pinion between said Wheels, and J ULES MELOTTE. a driving-pinion pivoted on an arm adapted Witnesses: to partake of all of the movements of said VIoToR HAMAL,

box except its annular movement around said JEAN WINGEN. 

